Attempt to ban Bhagavad-gita in Russia

Bhagavad-gita As It Is, one of the most respected holy scriptures of the world today, is under the threat of being banned in Russia.

The court proceedings will resume in Siberian city Tomsk, Russia, on Monday 19th. The prosecutors in Tomsk suggest that the widely distributed book translated and commented upon by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada should be included in the Justice Ministry's list of banned extremist literature.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is is translated in more than 80 languages. Over 100 million copies of this book was distributed to date all over the world! Millions of people in the world today consider it as the main book in their life.

The prosecutors with great determination and vigor are pushing through this absurd case. During the first three court hearings, the testimony of the Tomsk experts upon which the prosecutors built their case for the court was recognized as «inadequate». However, the Prosecutor's Office
ordered the new testimony. Noteworthy, that the testimony was requested not from the well-known experts of Hinduism from Moscow, but from some unknown experts from Kemerovo State University. This move clearly suggests that the court decision is already predestined. This practice brings to memory the Middle Age Inquisition, Witch hunting, burning of books and the persecution of the dissidents during Soviet period of Russian history.

Tomsk Ombudsperson, eminent scholars of Hinduism, the members of the Public Chamber of Russian Federation, representatives of Indian community in Russia, and people belonging to different religious denominations in Russia have already expressed their perplexity and outrage caused by the activities of Tomsk prosecutors.

We demand to stop the court over the Holy Scripture! These initiatives of the Tomsk Prosecutor’s Office offend the religious sentiments of all the followers of Hinduism and bring disgrace to the country of Russia.

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